


Enchanted

by Amanda (rarityfirefly)



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-30
Updated: 2007-07-29
Packaged: 2017-10-15 21:09:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/164961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarityfirefly/pseuds/Amanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Malcolm Reynolds gets more than he bargained for when accepting new passengers to his crew.<br/>From the very beginning, there was just something about River Tam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just havin' some fun, Joss. Will put them back when finished.  
> Originally posted: http://community.livejournal.com/mal_river/214370.html

Malcolm Reynolds was, generally speaking, a man of action. He had no trouble storming into the cargo hold to pull out the large crate that Simon Tam had brought on board Serenity. Quick witted, and full of a rare but true sarcasm not much slowed him down or brought him to any kind of standstill. However now, looking down into the cryo-case holding a very beautiful - and very naked - girl, he came to a stop. His breath was quite taken away and he could barely connect two thoughts together.

"Huh." was all he could get out for a moment, as he gazed down upon her curled form.

Then the sarcasm kicked in again as his brain began processing data once more. That is until she jumped up out of the crate and shouted, surprising him and making him jump. Things rarely made him jump. He watched in confusion as Simon went to her side, comforted her and soothed her by name. River. He made sure she was okay and calmed her down.

Malcolm Reynolds was all manner of confused. And in that single moment, he became completely captivated and entirely enchanted with River Tam.

*

The Captain gazed over at River, as she sat with her arms wrapped around her knees in the co-pilot's chair, and reined in his wandering thoughts. Reflecting on his first encounter with the reader might give her an idea of the types of things he'd been thinking about lately. She might already know, but he'd rather play his cards close to his chest at this point. No use causing more complication than they already had.

As if employing her talent then and there, she rolled her head towards him and made brief eye-contact, sending an electric jolt through his system, before looking back out into the black. The unspoken thoughts between them were starting to make Mal a might uncomfortable. However, there was nothing he could do. She was too young, too unaware of the way that she looked at him and how it caused his breath to catch in his throat.

He stood, in a single fluid motion and walked to the cockpit door, stopping for a moment to call back to her: "You fly for awhile darlin', I'll be in the cargo bay checkin' on the goods." Anything to get away from those endless swirling thoughts that she always managed to stir up with one look from her intense, dark eyes.

River uncurled herself from her chair, and padded softly across the floor to sit in the warmed pilot seat, a slight smile playing across her lips. Glancing back to see him disappearing down the corridor she made sure he was well out of sight before relaxing back into the pilot seat and staring back out to the stars. "Poor excuse. I know better."


	2. Chapter 2

Humming softly to herself River walked silently through the ship, feeling all the curves and nuances of Serenity again. The ship was solid, even when she felt like she may drift away Serenity grounded her and kept her safe. At this hour it was only her awake, worrying, wondering, making sure that all was secure. She knew that nothing was wrong logically, but it still made her feel better to walk the length of the Firefly before finding her bed.

Coming up through the back hall from her travels in the engine room she entered the dining area, her steps treading so gently Mal didn't hear her approach. She should have known he wouldn't be asleep, but she had hoped to make it back to her bunk without running into him that night. No such luck.

"Should be sleeping." She commented, behind him as she fully entered the room.

Mal startled a little, but covered fairly quickly. "So should you, little one. So should you."

"Not done yet." she stated, matter-of-fact, and passed by him towards the front hall. She carried on all the way through to the cockpit, touching the doors of each crew member for a moment on her way by. Excluding Mal's given that he was awake.

Finally reaching her destination she settled in the pilot's chair and took stock of the readings and made sure the course was maintained and the way was clear. She rested her hand gently on the dash, arranging Wash's dinosaurs just so - putting them on watch for the rest of the night. Hearing a foot fall, she leaned back in the chair and pulled one knee to her chest and waited.

"Not done what, little one?" Mal asked as he finally stepped in the room with her.

"Putting Serenity to bed." she replied. "Always sleep better after. You do too." She turned to look, and found him nodding in agreement. She stood from the chair, patted the back of it gently and headed for the door.

"That I do. Can't say as I don't."

"Done now." She passed by him, just barely brushing her arm against his as she exited back into the corridor. The tingle reached through her, but she managed to make it down the stairs to her bunk door at the end of the hall without faltering.

"Sleep tight." She called, dropping down the ladder to her room.

Mal collected himself as best he could, the electric buzz created by her brushing against him had been hard to contain. He tested his feet carefully to make sure they'd still be able to support walking and went to find his bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Time carried on and Serenity healed from her wounds. River still felt Wash every time she sat down at the pilot's chair. How could she not? It was where he spent his last moments. Things were so different now, but oddly they were okay, despite the lingering sadness. Even Zoe was starting to recover some of the things grief had robbed from her.

River glanced up when she heard a footfall, knowing who would be coming into the room before he came in.

"How's the flying, mei mei?" Simon asked, approaching the chair and placing a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Getting better. Easier. Ghosts linger less." She smiled up at him, the one smile she only shared with him. Without him she wouldn't even be here, and for that she is grateful. Simon nodded and kissed the top of her head.

"Persephone soon." River nodded, looking back to the dash details.

"I'll leave you to it then." Simon smiled down at her, squeezing her shoulder gently before turning to depart.

River took the helm off autopilot and leaned forward over the controls to guide Serenity down towards the now looming planet.

After departing the ship River walked the market square and looked in the shop windows with Kaylee. Listening to her delighted tone and words over the pretty things to be seen there, she smiled softly to herself. Kaylee was so nice to her, and really seemed to be quite attached to her brother. She couldn't complain even if she couldn't put her own heart into the things they were browsing over. There was just too much on her mind.

Mal followed behind them at a distance, watching the two girls together. He caught himself smiling a little bit, then made himself stop. Wouldn't be proper.

*

The deal was made and everyone returned to the ship in a fair amount of time. They never stayed on Persephone long, it wasn't that great a place to be. It served it's purpose to them adequately by being there to pick up goods, or to deliver them. However, among the crew everyone seemed to be much more comfortable when they were out in the black flying. Especially River.

She took them out of the world with ease and nodded in satisfaction to herself after they departed atmo. It really was getting easier to fly. Serenity was more and more becoming a true part of her, an extension, no longer separate as they were in the past. More than a home, almost part of her soul.

She leaned back at the controls and guided the ship onto it's next destination, wondering if this was what the rest of her life was going to look like. And contemplating that it was no bad thing if it was.

"Hey, little one." Mal called, walking up the steps into the room to join her.

"Easier this time." she replied, smiling back at him as he came to stand next to her.

"That's the truth." He smiled as he watched her lay adjustments into the console before her. "Why don't you let me sit a spell, and go have some dinner." Without thinking, he ruffled her hair in a friendly gesture, before he could stop himself.

She turned her head up into his touch and his hand slid down the side of her face to cup her cheek gently. Her dark, endless eyes looked into his and there was a smile playing in their depths, along with something else that he was reluctant to examine. Her eyes drifted closed as she pushed her face against his hand and soaked up the touch.

River couldn't talk about this, couldn't think about much save when these moments happened. She knew that he would never feel comfortable being open about how she knew he felt but she readily welcomed the contact when he gave it, not that it was often.

Mal's thought process began to shut down again. He knew he should stay away. He knew it was all manner of wrong. He knew that it couldn't possibly ever be right. However the fire that shot up his arm as she nuzzled her cheek into his palm shorted out his reasoning. It wasn't right, but it didn't seem to matter much in the current moment.

River turned her face into his palm, parting her lips softly and grazed a kiss into the center of his hand, letting a out a soft exhale spreading warm air over his skin. She moved forward slightly, and kissed the inside of his wrist just as softly, leaving a trail of electric fire in the wake of her lips. Mal's knees were starting to feel a little weak. She pushed up out of the chair and stood before him, and looked up into his troubled eyes.

"Not wrong." she stated, softly, kissing the inside of his arm further up.

"Oh, darlin'..." he swallowed convulsively, as she worked her way considerably further and kissed the inside of his elbow. Unable to stand any longer, he fumbled for the pilot's seat and sat down hard. "It can't be right."

Mal's thoughts were spinning all out of control, and he was having a very hard time pulling back from the brink she had taken him too. She was too young. Too young for him, and just too young in general. He couldn't let himself take advantage of that, no matter how much he wanted otherwise.

"It's what you let it be. It's my choice too." She put his hand back up against her cheek and looked him square in the eye with a smile playing on her mouth now. "We will dance soon." And she turned on her heel and practically floated out of the room with her surreal grace.

Mal turned and tried to get comfortable again, tried to calm his very physical, almost painful reaction to her touch and stared out into the black. He feared that he wouldn't last much longer against the desire she stirred in him.


	4. Chapter 4

Weary from the job, Mal dropped down the ladder into his bunk, let the door close behind him and locked the hatch. Sometimes he just needed a few moments to himself to clear his head before carrying on with the day. He turned towards the bed intending to flop down for a few moments of peace and just about jumped out of his boots.

"River!" he exclaimed, recovering from his fright fairly quickly. "You shouldn't be in here, little one."

Mal reached for the lock on the door, and she uncurled from the middle of his bunk quick as lightening and shot across the room to grab his hand before it reached it's destination.

"Don't." River pulled his hand down and held it between her own. "Talk to me."

Mal looked down to her and couldn't bear to move his hand out from between hers. "What about, darlin'?"

She smiled softly and backed into his room, pulling him along as she did. "About why."

"Sweetheart," he chuckled a little. "You'll have ta be a might clearer than that."

River sat down on the bed and pulled him down next to her never letting go of his hands, afraid that if she did she might loose him. That he would leave the room and she would loose her chance.

"Not wrong." she squeezed his fingers gently, looking down at his hands instead of into his eyes.

"Oh, darlin'." He sighed and took her hands into his instead, rubbing the fingers gently. "You're too young, little one. You're too young and I can't take that away from you."

River looked up to his eyes at last. "Not young. Stopped being young years ago."

Mal looked down into her eyes, truly seeing into them. He faced up to what he read there and couldn't think of how to respond.

"I'm not right for you. I'm too old for you," he countered.

"Age is only a number." she pulled his hands up to her face and kissed the back of each in turn. "We are alike, more than you think."

Mal shook his head softly and pulled his hands back from hers, regretfully breaking the contact between them. "You're making it hard to argue with you, sweetheart."

River smiled up at him. "Exactly."

Mal stood from the bunk and turned to leave the room. "I can't explain it any better to you, darlin'. I'm too old for you and you too young for me. I wouldn't feel right despite any reason you may think you have to the contrary."

"Even if it's what I want?" she asked, her voice seeming small in the space, sounding sad.

Mal turned to look down at her. "You won't want this always. You'll grow to realize that."

River stood on the bed, which made her only slightly taller than him at that point and reached out towards him. "I've always wanted it."

The implications of her statement left him speechless. He found he was moving forward before he could stop himself and stepped into her embrace. He hugged her close, inhaling the sweet clean scent of her hair and skin. She leaned back from him to look into his eyes. "Always."

Mal's head was spinning again. "Why?"

River smiled at him, running a hand through his hair. "Why not?"

Then, as if timed, the proximity alarm sounded, and she shot from his room like an arrow to the cockpit faster than he could comprehend.


	5. Chapter 5

Mal strode into the cockpit a few moments later, looking mostly recovered from the encounter. River sat in the pilot's chair with confidence, having already turned the alarm off and slowed the ship to a stop.

They looked out into the black and faced a asteroid belt that hadn't been there previously. Mal turned to the scanner screen and examined the data he encountered. "That, there, used to be a ship."

When River looked out at the debris, she could see the bits and pieces of metal that indeed used to make up a ship. Though now, there was no way to know what had happened to it.

"What's going on, sir?" Zoe stepped into the cockpit and looked out on the stars with them.

"Well, Zoe, I can't rightly say. We're looking on what used to be a ship, and no reason that I can see that it isn't anymore."

"Bad accident." River spit out. "Containment failure. Explosion."

Mal turned to look down on his little albatross and put his thumbs behind his gun belt. "Is that so?"

Zoe looked a little startled at the explanation. "She's getting more perceptive."

Mal nodded, mostly to himself. "That she is."

River adjusted course around the floating remains of the spaceship and re-directed Serenity ever onward. Zoe retreated from the cockpit to head back to the common area where she had been curled up over a cup of tea with Kaylee and Simon.

Mal turned to exit the room as well and head back to his bunk for the moment of peace he never actually got when River set the ship back onto auto-pilot again and turned. "Wait."

She got up from the chair and approached him quietly. "Not finished."

"As I see it little one, I think you are." Mal put a hand on her shoulder, and squeezed gently in a reassuring way. Saying without words that he wasn't angry for what she had tried to do.

River would not be deterred. She stepped back out of the line of sight of the hallway and pulled him towards her using his hand on her shoulder to guide him. She reached up and placed her hand on top of his, sending a warm feeling through his fingers and down into his center.

She stepped backwards up onto a box behind her, and now she was level with him. Using that to her advantage, River looked directly into his eyes, and truly fell head-long into the blue expanse.

Mal felt like he was spinning again as River took his hand from her shoulder and brought it to her face and kissed his finger tips, each one individually. Each time her lips touched his skin it felt akin to an electric shock traveling up his arm and weakening his already weakened will.

"Please?"

That one simple word caved his willpower. He no longer cared about what anyone would think, or even of what he thought. He knew he was destined for the Special Hell, but he couldn't bring himself to stop this anymore. It no longer mattered.

Mal took his hands from hers and cupped her face gently for a moment before running his fingers back through her long, silky smooth hair. River sighed softly her eyes drifting closed again, as she leaned into his touch. He brought his hands back up to her face and brushed his thumbs across her cheeks and leaned forward slightly to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"River, you have to know what you're doing." He exhaled the words across her hair as he pulled her into a protective embrace. "I'm not made of stone."

"I do. I know. I want this. More than anything. I want you." She whispered into his ear, silently pleading that he for once let go of his sense of wrongness about it. "I'm not bad."

"Of course you're not bad! Just this... whole thing don't seem quite right, darlin'." He smoothed his hands down her hair in a gesture of comfort. "I just don't understand why your focusin' on me like this."

"Because you aren't afraid of me. You know me. You've always known me." she spoke gently, in a rare moment of clarity. Mal had become accustomed to trying to figure out the riddle of her speech, but this was more direct that he'd ever heard from her. He pulled back to look into her face and see the expression of hurt there. "You've always tried to treat me like a person. Even when I wasn't."

"Oh, darlin'." Mal murmured. "You are a person. I've always thought that."

River smiled up at him, a tear tracking it's way down her face. "Enchanted."

The one word cut right to the core of him. He knew there was no way to avoid her knowing the regard he'd held for her from day one, but he had hoped he'd have been able to change it into something else. Something more protective, and less charged with the passion that had developed over the time she'd been on board.

"Not wrong." She repeated again, leaning slightly into him. "Very right."

Mal ran a thumb across her cheek, wiping away the wet trail that had been left behind. "Very right," he repeated. His resistance finally dissolved and there was really only one course left to him.

He put a gentle hand under her chin and tilted her face towards his and gave into his desires, finally. At long last River had her wish. Their lips met very softly, slowly with an extreme care on Mal's part. River leaned into him when the unexpected sensation made her slightly weak-kneed. She pushed her mouth against his delicately again, allowing the repeated pressure to send chills through her entire system. She never wanted this to end.

"Mei mei??!"

Mal spun to face a beyond extremely angry Simon Tam. Before he even had a chance to open his mouth to explain anything, the fist came flying and cracked against his jaw. He went down, he'd seen it coming, but he didn't stop it or dodge it. He knew that if Simon didn't have the opportunity to hit him now, he may hold the resentment for longer than necessary.

River was instantly down at Mal's side, glaring up at her brother with all the fury she could muster. "Stop!" she shouted up at him, as his fist was in the air ready to launch another attack.

"It's ok, darlin'." Mal suppressed a chuckle, sitting up on his elbows. "I figured he'd want to hit me. I had just been hoping to have a little more warning first."

"What are you doing to her? She's only eighteen!" Simon leaned down and collected Mal by the front of his shirt and hauled him upright, landing another punch square on his jaw. The boy had a fairly decent right hook, which was unfortunate for Mal's face.

"I'm almost nineteen." River jumped into the fray and got between her brother and her man. "You've no right to stop me."

"What the hell are you talking about, mei mei??" The anger refused to back down as Simon held his fist ready to strike again. "You are absolutely too young for anything like this, especially ... with ... him!!" Simon threw his words out like hard stones willing them to strike Mal with all the fury he had.

"I started this. Not him. You've no right to tell me what I can or can't do." River stared her brother down. It was possibly the biggest battle of wills that the 'verse had ever seen. "It is my decision to make. Not yours."

"River, you can't mean that. You can't be with him! It's insanity!" A little of the anger left Simon's features, and was starting to be replaced by cold confusion.

Alas, Mal could only stand and stay silent. This was one thing he had no part in. It's no secret that Simon and he did not see eye to eye on a lot of matters and punches had flown in the past. He knew that Simon would not like the idea and knew that he would have no part in changing Simon's mind. Only River could do that.

"Well, I am insane." Came River's blunt reply, her tone sharp and meant to sting. Simon rightfully winced.

"That's not what I was saying, River. You just can't.... For crying out loud!" Simon was frustrated, and knew he was on the losing end of this battle. Mal wanted to leave the room, but feared if he moved that they would stop talking and the matter wouldn't be resolved.

"It is my choice." River stated flatly. "And I've made it."

Simon turned to Mal hoping to get him to see reason. "Mal you can't possibly do this. It doesn't make any kind of sense at all."

"I've said the same for a very long time now." Mal sighed, rubbing his hand along his jaw where he'd been struck. "She's just got a will too powerful to stop."

"Oh so this has been going on for a long time now!" The rage set anew across the doctor's features, as he tried to reach out and grab Mal again.

"No!" River cut in, blocking her brother's hand with her own. "I only just now managed to get him to see my side of things."

"Meaning what, exactly?" Simon asked, the anger faltering a bit.

"Meaning I've been trying for a very long time, and been resisted at every turn." River shot back. "It is my choice. I have made it."

"Unbelievable!!" Simon fumed, turning from the room and stomping down the stairs back towards the dining area. Simon had decided that maybe Kaylee could help him get River to see reason on this.

River followed with quick, hurried steps worried about what Simon was going to do, and Mal followed River in hopes to keep this confrontation to a minimum.

"Do. You. Know. What. Your. Captain. Has. Done??" were the words River and Mal walked into the dining area to hear from Simon. He punctuated each word by pointing back and fourth between both Kaylee and Zoe, who were still lounging with their tea.

Both women looked back and fourth between each other, Simon, and to River and Mal who'd just approached.

"No. But, why don't you tell us?" Zoe leaned forward, yet again successfully hiding anything she was feeling at the moment.

"He's taking advantage of my little sister! My eighteen year old little sister!" If Simon could have a way to make his voice sound more forceful, he'd have tried. However, as it was he ground out each word between his teeth with a fury. "You have to help me get River to see reason. This is absolute lunacy!"

River, the lunatic in question, stood behind her brother, arms crossed in front of her chest. "They aren't going to be able to help you. Simon, you are treading dangerous ground here."

Simon spun, unaware he'd been followed, and faced River again. Mal decided a little distance would be good at this time and leaned back on the table, arms crossed over his chest, unwilling to interfere. Anything he said at this point would probably only serve to rile Simon further.

"You are my little sister, River. I have to protect you. There is no way you are going to go anywhere near him." Simon looked above her head and glared at Mal. "Lie deng* bastard!"

Mal stood, hands clenching into fists at the insult. "I think that's quite enough, Simon. You've said your peace. You don't like it, and I understand that. However, there is one key thing that you need to understand in this. These are not new feelings. Certainly not for me, and obviously not for River."

A look of confusion passed across Simon's features, unsure of what Mal was speaking of, and that put him off his anger long enough to listen for a minute.

"I was hoping how I felt could be changed into something more appropriate, given River's youth. But she is a smart young woman and very capable of taking care of herself and I think you need to realize that." Mal leaned back again, looking to River for her support in his statement. He had intended to leave it between the two Tam siblings, but decided it would be better if Simon understood that he'd always felt something for River and that it wasn't a new development based on her youthful insistence.

"Like I said," River spoke again, softly this time. "It is my choice. I made it. I know you want to take care of me Simon, but you have to let me grow up sometime."

"Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous?" Simon's anger had cooled somewhat as he looked at everyone in the room.

"I think it's kinda cute!" Kaylee piped up, in her typical cheerful manner.

"As I see it, it's none of my business." Zoe remained unreadable as she sat back, but one could see a slight hint of amusement there if they knew her well enough.

Simon turned to look at River again and sighed. "Oh, mei mei. You are so stubborn. But I love you anyway." And he walked forward to embrace her, his anger cooling further. Over her head he addressed Mal, not as a crew-member, but as a very protective brother. "If you hurt her, Mal, so help me..." he couldn't finish the thought out loud, but the look that flashed through his eyes said enough.

"I expect no less of you." Mal replied, letting a small smile light his face, and relaxed a little. "Truce?"

Simon and River both nodded in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *inferior


	6. Chapter 6

They never really talked about it much, but the crew was at first hard to adjust to the new relationship on board Serenity. Especially considering the Captain was always an advocate of avoiding ship-based relationships, given how they complicate things. For a long time afterwards there was just an undefinable air of tension whenever Mal and Simon were in the same room together.

It had been nearing a week since the incident between Simon and Mal, and River was beginning to get frustrated. Mal wasn't avoiding her exactly, but he wasn't letting himself be caught alone with her either. River couldn't figure out what he was up to.

River put the ship on auto-pilot and went to walk the length of Serenity, it had literally become her nightly ritual. When she completed her entire walk, and checked the cockpit again she headed down the corridor towards her room. Walking by the Captain's door she stilled for a moment, and then made a quick decision.

She dropped down the ladder into Mal's bunk and stopped to stare at him. He was sitting on his bunk, reading, shirtless under the blanket. He looked up from the book, closed it and set it aside. She reached up and flicked the hatch lock. "You should be i-"

"Not till you tell me why you've been avoiding me." she cut him off abruptly, closing the distance between them and halting in front of him.

"Darlin'. I've haven't been avoiding you." Mal smiled up at her, leaning back on his elbow. "I've just been taking things slow."

"You won't even be in a room alone with me!" River accused, hands on her hips.

"I don't want you to think that all I want is ..." Mal trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.

"I want it." She stated, filling the gap of words between them. She set her knees on the bed beside him and brought her face close to his. "I want you."

She leaned forward, lips almost touching his. "No more hiding."

"No more," Mal echoed, capturing her lips with his gently, holding a hand to the side of her face. The physical reaction was immediate and shocking. He was at a distinct disadvantage, having been prepared for bed and wearing nothing already he felt quite off balance.

River pushed her mouth against his, allowing her lips to part under the pressure so suddenly their tongues touched. She gasped in surprise against him but refused to break the contact as she started to explore this new sensation. Mal held back a groan and let her explore him for the first time, not pushing back even though he wanted to. With his control close to breaking he let his tongue slip into her mouth to see what effect the reverse would have.

River sighed softly in the back of her throat at the sensation. It was all so new and unexpected, she could see why it was exciting for Kaylee and Simon when they were together. She brought a hand up to his chest and started trailing her fingers along his skin and Mal couldn't hide his groan at the contact that time. He felt River smile into their kiss.

She pulled back first, and looked into his now very darkened eyes and questioned him with her gaze. "Is this ok?" she asked.

"More than ok, darlin'." Mal smiled. "More than." He reached up and brushed a hand through her hair. "If anything at all startles you, you need to tell me. I'll stop."

River grabbed his hand and brought it to the buttons on her shirt. "I will." She smiled softly at him, while he undid each one slowly and pushed the shirt down off her shoulders. She tossed it aside an sat before him in only an undershirt and her skirt. Mal slowly trailed his fingers up her arm to her shoulder and stopped to rest there for a moment, taking in her absolute beauty.

In one swift movement she leaned to the side and shucked her skirt, so now she only sat in her underwear. Mal leaned back for another moment to take her all in. Patience had to be his key right now. He moved over in the bed closer to the wall and used his arm to lay her back onto the mattress. She looked up at him, unable to hide the slight anxiousness this first time was causing her.

Mal leaned down towards her and pressed another kiss to her lips, exploring her gently, reassuring her wordlessly. His hand stayed at first on her arms, neck, face and in her hair. She trailed her fingers along his flesh to match, igniting a slow heat inside of him. She was exploring him the same way he was her, so as not to frighten. Although, he knew he had nothing to be scared of.

He was experiencing a powerful ache now, and finding it seriously hard to deny it any longer, he slipped his hand up under her camisole and rested it on the flesh of her stomach. Mal looked down into her eyes, waiting to see what the reaction would be. River could only reach towards his arm and move his hand further up for him.

Needing very little encouragement after that, he pushed her shirt up over her head and paused to look upon her youthful form. He leaned down then, and trailed a hot line of kisses along her stomach and up to her breasts. There he took one nipple gently into his mouth and teased it with his tongue until River was gasping in the sensation. He paused briefly and then switched to the other side to do the same.

She reached up and put her hands into his hair and pulled his mouth up to hers for a searing hot kiss. She knew he was going slow for her and she really appreciated it, even though she can sense how difficult it is on him.

Mal reached down slowly, trailing his fingers across her stomach and stopped at the band of her panties. River doesn't stop him as he slowly pulls them down and slips them off her legs. She is naked at last, and he slowly looks her up and down. River tries not to feel embarrassed by the way he's looking at her, because she knows that he's enjoying it, but it's a bit difficult.

Mal leans down for another kiss, softer and gentler this time while he trails his hand back up her leg slowly. He stops when he reaches her hips and gently brushes his fingertips across her belly, stroking with care. Finally after what seems like forever, his fingers drift down between her legs with considerable gentleness. River's legs spread apart of their own will when his fingertip rests softly on an overly sensitive bundle of nerves.

River gasped and arched back breaking the kiss and looking wildly into his eyes. It was so much more than when she ever did it to herself. If she were asked to describe the sensation she knew that she could not, but she also knew that it was so much more than she would ever be able to muster alone. Mal taking that as a sign of encouragement massaged her gently, gauging her reactions and allowing her to adjust to the sensation.

When she smiled up at him, it came very close to breaking his control completely. He wanted to take this as slow as she needed to go. He'd hate to spook her now after all they'd been through. He stroked his fingers lower between her legs and gently probed into her, very slowly.

River couldn't help herself, she moaned deep in the back of her throat, flashing her dark eyes at him as he slid one finger in and out of her gently. Her patience was wearing thin. She reached up and pulled his face down towards hers into an urgent kiss. Shedding as much of the shyness as she could she moved towards him and then moved under him fairly swiftly.

Poised above her, the blanket no longer separating them his fraying control almost snapped. She used her arms to draw him upwards and looked him in the eyes, the deep passion that had been hidden there out for each other to see. "Please."

Again, that one word was all it took and he guided himself forward and into her. He went as slowly as he could and stopped once he was all the way inside. River smiled and looked up at him, her eyes telling him everything was okay. Mal pulled back out slowly and then pushed back in again, setting a very slow rhythm at first. River pulled him down on top of her shocked by the intensity of the contact. They were each other, they were no longer separate. River was Mal and Mal was River. The thought made her blood sing with harmony.

"You okay, darlin'?" Mal asked, looking up into her face to see her smile, straining against the slow pace he set for himself.

"More than ok," she echoed his earlier comment and wrapped her arms around him encouraging him into a faster pace. There was no pain, and rather than take the time to marvel at that, she used hands, hips and legs to let him know he could go at a pace he needed.

Mal felt the change in contact, and bit back a heavy moan against her shoulder, it was almost a relief to be able to increase his speed to something less than torture. Before long, he arched back and pinned her hips to the bed as he spilled his orgasm inside of her and she gasped in kind as feeling and reading his release caused one for her.

Slowly disengaging he lay down beside her and tucked her into the bed with his arms and the blanket. She warmed beside him and smiled softly. He kissed her cheek, shoulder and the top of her head softly, knowing he wasn't long for the wakeful world. She reached her hand up and hugged his arm to her chest and sighed deeply.

Nothing would ever be the same.


End file.
